We may want to watch this, as it could set a BAD precident...
>US airlines, airports battle >over Wi-Fi spectrum issues >Bob Brewin, Computerworld > >06/21/2004 > >The airport authority-controlled Wi-Fi networks at several airports >are shaping up as ground zero in an emerging battle between >airlines and airports over the use, regulation and management of >wireless networks at the facilities. > >A wireless network at Logan International Airport in Boston, a >similar system at Denver International Airport (DIA) and others >planned for the Raleigh-Durham International and Los Angeles >International airports are at the center of a fight over the unlicensed >wireless spectrum used to support a wide range of applications, >from passenger Internet access to remote check-in kiosks. > >When Logan turns on an airportwide Wi-Fi network next week, >airlines and their passengers will have to pay to use the network, >something United Airlines Inc. views as an "unnecessary expense," >according to Mike Mader, a ground systems radio engineer who >handles Wi-Fi installations for United. > >While passengers can choose whether or not to pay for access >to Wi-Fi hot spots at Logan, airlines, which use Wi-Fi networks >to support key applications such as bag tracking, have no choice, >according to Barbara Platt, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts >Port Authority. Massport, which operates Logan, requires airlines >and other airport tenants to use the Universal Wireless Ethernet >System (UWES) installed at the airport, Platt said. > >United, a division of UAL has installed its own Wi-Fi networks to >support bag-scanning operations at numerous airports, including >its Chicago hub. But Mader said the carrier will have to use the >Massport network under the mandate imposed on all airport tenants. >That's not as cost-effective as United installing and operating its >own network, Mader said. > >Platt said the UWES provides for better management of the wireless >spectrum at the airport and "ensures Wi-Fi runs smoothly for all users." >Platt declined to provide pricing details. > >TWI Interactive, developed the Logan network in partnership with >Electronic Media Systems. TWI said its five-year contract guarantees >Massport a minimum payment of US$200,000 in the first year of the >pact and as much as US$300,000 in the fifth, up to a maximum of 20 >percent of gross revenue. That revenue could exceed US $1 million >annually. > >Chuck Cannon, a spokesman for DIA, said payments from its Wi-Fi >contractor, AT&T Wireless Services, could run about US$250,000 >per month. Like Massport, DIA maintains that it needs to manage the >Wi-Fi spectrum in the unlicensed 2.4- and 5-GHz bands to ensure >frequency and spectrum coordination, according to Jim Winston, >director for telecommunications at the airport. DIA is owned and >operated by the city of Denver. > >"If we don't coordinate, it's going to be a zoo out there," Winston said. >If the airport let all its tenants install Wi-Fi networks, "there would be >mass confusion," he said. > >Jeremy Denton, director of government affairs for the Industrial >Telecommunications Association (ITA) said that from his perspective, >revenue -- not frequency coordination -- stands behind the move by >airport authorities to control Wi-Fi networks. The ITA is a trade group >that counts among its members airport Wi-Fi users such as United, >FedEx and United Parcel Service. > >In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission in March, >the ITA said that the "sole motivational goal" by airports to regulate >Wi-Fi use "is to increase the airport authority's revenue." The ITA >has asked the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling against airports' >attempts to regulate the unlicensed spectrum, saying they have no >legal standing to do so under FCC rules. > >While Denton would like to see the FCC rule quickly, he predicted >that the agency would put the ITA filing out for public comment, a >process that could take a year or more. Massport's Platt and DIA's >Cannon both declined to comment on the filing. > >Based on his experience at DIA, Mader said not only do airport- >controlled Wi-Fi systems impose extra costs, they don't immediately >deliver what's promised. Mader said he has worked since October >to resolve coverage and interference issues with the AT&T Wireless >network at DIA because the access points installed for the Wi-Fi >network used by United for its bag-scanning system don't provide >the needed coverage. > >United wanted the access points to cover the ramp area out to and >beyond the tail of a Boeing 777 to support scanning of late bags >loaded into the plane, but the signal didn't reach that far. Mader >said United also experienced interference from another 2.4-GHz >network, which was traced to the DIA central car-rental facility, >close to a mile from United's gates. All these coverage and interference >problems have now been resolved, but it took about six months longer >than the time it would have taken United to do the job on its own, >Mader said. > >Winston blamed United for the problems, saying the airline was >unable to figure out coverage issues on its own. "They don't have >the expertise," he said. > >John Killeen, global network systems manager at UPS, said the >company operates Wi-Fi networks to sort packages at about 90 >airports. Airport attempts to control Wi-Fi spectrum are a minor >issue today, but if the FCC ruled in favor of airports as a result >of the ITA petition, airport control could become a "potential problem." >Killeen said he would like to see the FCC act quickly on the ITA petition. > >Ken Pasley, director of wireless business development at FedEx, >which also uses Wi-Fi systems to sort packages, said airport attempts >to control spectrum "could clearly affect us," though probably not as >much as passenger carriers, since FedEx operations are far from >terminals where shared-use networks have been installed. > >Pasley said he supports the ITA petition and views airport-owned >and managed Wi-Fi networks as a way for them to boost revenue. > >Source: http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;702782156;fp;16;fpid;0
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